Skating Scene

c. 1835

John Toole

Associated Names
John Toole

Artist, American, 1815 - 1860

The painting depicts a wintry scene from an elevated point of view, showing people skating and playing games on a frozen river. On the left, leafless trees line the frozen bank. On the right, there are brown buildings with snow on their roofs and smoke rising from their chimneys. A woman stands on one of the porches, holding a small child. On the snowy ground outside the buildings, a sled is being pulled by two horses. In the center of the painting is the wide frozen river. The people on it wear colorful clothes in shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and brown. Some of them slip and fall on the ice, and others lace skates on their feet. Four men in the center hold long curved sticks and look towards a small round ball on the surface of the ice. In the distance, the horizon is marked by blue-tinged mountains under a cloudy gray sky.

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1815-1860]; his wife, Jane Suddarth Toole, North Garden, Virginia, 1860;[1] by inheritance to their daughter, Alice Toole Barnes [Mrs. Theodore Barnes], Washington, D.C.; by inheritance to her daughter, Mrs. Beulah Barnes Weaver, Washington, D.C.; by inheritance to her son, B. Woodruff Weaver, Washington, D.C.; sold 1955 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift 1958 to NGA.
[1] The Garbisch records contain no notation of this painting's history. It has been reconstructed through information provided by descendants (William P. Campbell, memorandum of 28 November 1955 and notes of a telephone conversation with Mrs. B. Woodruff Weaver of 16 March 1961, both in NGA curatorial files).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1957

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part II, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1957, no. 66.

1962

  • 101 Masterpieces of American Painting from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by the Amer. Federation of Arts, New York, 1961-1964, only shown at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1962, not in cat.

1968

  • The Artist and the Sportsman, The National Art Museum of Sport, Inc., Madison Square Garden Center Gallery of Art, New York, 1968, 78.

1971

  • What is American in American Art, M. Knoedler and Co. [benefit exhibition for the Museum of American Folk Art], New York, 1971, no. 35.

  • Extended loan for use by The Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1971-1987.

1972

  • Extended loan for use in Chief Justice Rehnquist's chambers, 1986-1992.

1987

  • In Pursuit of Sport, Brandywine River Musuem, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 1987, no cat.

1988

  • Extended loan for use by The Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1988-1992.

2006

  • Extended loan for use by Susan C. Schwab, U.S. Trade Representative, Washington, D.C., 2006-2008.

Bibliography

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 116, repro.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 249, repro.

1985

  • Rubin, Cynthia Elyce. Southern Folk Art. Birmingham, Alabama, 1985: 64, 69, 78.

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 384-386, color repro. 385.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 368, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20186042

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